News Center - Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Batman MP Feleknas Uca made a speech at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Emphasizing the importance of equal representation in politics, Feleknas Uca said that they support and care about the report prepared by activist and politician Eglantina Gjermeni on women's rights and gender equality. Stating that the reason for inequality in society is the male-dominated system and the gender inequality produced by it, Feleknas Uca noted that the politics, which directly affects society and takes decisions on fundamental rights and freedoms, is one of the main spaces where power is reproduced.

“Our struggle against the dark mentality continues”

Even if women’s representation has increased in Europe, the dark mentality saying, “Women are not equal to men,” sees women as a second gender, Feleknas Uca said the reports on women’s rights and gender equality clearly show that women are completely excluded from politics while they try to make themselves exist in a world where this dark mentality exists. “In its current form, politics is an anti-democratic and monopolistic male-dominated area. Women's labor has been exploited due to the expected roles of women in education, labor, and at home. Equal representation of women in politics is extremely important for women to decide about their lives and for the end of thousands of years of exploitation. As female migrants, refugees, politicians, and domestic workers, our struggle against this dark mentality continues.”

“The aim of the co-presidency system is to produce a common mind”

Feleknas Uca pointed out that one of the most important achievements of the Kurdish women’s movement is the co-presidency system. “This system is valid at all levels of HDP. The aim of this system is to produce a common mind, to produce original and autonomous women's assemblies and equal representation taking women out of a disadvantaged position and put them in a position to speak out.”

Talking about the women’s revolution in Rojava, Feleknas Uca said, “The women’s revolution in Rojava is one of the most important models of equal representation. Women have changed thousand-year-old male society by taking at the frontlines in every area. Eliminating all barriers against women’s participation in politics is our common responsibility. Women will never give up their struggle for existence. We will continue to keep women’s gains alive.”